Anyone had experience of Hill House Junior School, London

[peasoup]

Just wondered if anyone knew anything about this one. Seems fairly unconventional which i like the idea of and international students and staff which i like the idea of.

I never saw 7 up 2000. I don't know what to think about that! [confused emoticon]

I have friends with children there, and they all seem very happy. HH does very well with senior school placement, despite reputation for not being very academic. I think, in fact, that they are quite academic but that they start out less so in the early years.

Hi StickyT, thanks for that. I think I remember on the tour I did that they mentioned they don't like to put pressure on the little ones, so until age 6 they don't do competitive sport, nor do they have any homework until age 6. Maybe that's part of the non-academic reputation they've got. They are very into music and sport but i figured with their really good senior school placement they must get on well academically too.
Are your friends British? Lots of international students there I think. It all looks nice, but don't you just wish you could meet the older kids who have been through the school to see how they turned out to help make your decision about where to send your own kids?! Perhaps I should get on the HH alumni website, if there is one, and quiz them!!

Ex boyfriend went there and died a drug addict... so you never can tell.

Christ Little wonder The only ex HH pupils I've now heard of are your ex, one other Mumsnetters DH, Prince Charles and Lily Allan. Oh dear. Sorry for your loss littlewonder

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Brilliant Stringerbell- just the sort of indepth info I was hoping for!! Not exactly brilliant news, but I'm glad to talk to someone with direct experience. Was feeling a bit guilty for bumping this thread every other day!
Hmmm; I shall go away and ponder on this info...

Hi peasoup, Not got experience but had it highly recommended by a friend who has 2 DDs there. They live in Fulham/ Chelsea though and looked at other schools in central London. Am considering it, but noticed from another thread that you are near Clapham- did none of those ones suit then? I'm also near Clapham and interested to see what you decide- my DD is 5 months. Maybe see you at school gates in a couple of years

I used to see pupils going back and forth between the buildings when I worked at Peter Jones years ago and I've read various articles about it since.

The founder has died now but he was quite a character.

www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ltcol-stuart-townend-615298.html
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1411622/Lieutenant-Colonel-Stuart-Townend.html

Wiki says Lily Allen went there
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_House_School

Hi Sushimum, Thansk for your response. I'm glad to hera your friend is happy with HH. Can I ask why? I haven't found any current parents to ask so far; the only folks I've heard from on Mumsnet are those who have heard stuff about it second hand or have relatives who went their in pretty distant past.
Yes i'm in Clapham, but I really want him to go to an international school and obviously they are aren't any in Clapham. I like the idea of him going to an international school as I really enjoyed the ones I went to as a child but did not enjoy the British schools I went to. Any info from yor friend of the pros and cons of HH would be much appreciated.
I did a tour of the school in June and was told there are quite a few students coming in from Battersea and Clapham. Have you gone for a look round?Thanks once ina life for those articles. Very interesting. Hope the school isn't suffering too much now the founder has past on.

if you are in Clapham won't it be a pain for playdates etc?

TheBlonde Suppose so, but there's so much to consider when choosing a school I hadn't even got round to thinking about that yet. He'll go to nursery in Clapham and already hangs out with toddlers in clapham, so hopefully will still have pals nearby (how old's yor son BTW? )

Ooh pray tell what is your experience of international vs British schools? What's so good about them? I've never really thought about it before.

Hmm.. not really close friend. But from what I recall, other schools that he looked at all wanted money upfront before you went to tour, and then were also very pushy about whether you wanted a place or not as they didn't have spaces etc etc until you coughed up the deposit (first term's fees) upon registration. HH was more interested in you being happy with the school and then just paying 100 to register and hold place.

Not sure of specific details now that they are there. Just that both girls are very happy. Point of interest is that he said that most parents tend to be "older".

Have you seen the other local schools?
Are you going to be driving into the congestion charge zone daily just for school drop off?

Hi TheBlonde, do you mean the Clapham schools? I've been to see some of them. I won't be driving anywhere. Could be the 452 bus or HH have a school bus. Dh would cycle with him, but that would worry me I think.
SushiMum "older"- well that's me! LOL.
It's just my personal experience that makes me want internatonal school upbringing for DS. I had that in the main growing up, so I guess similarly like if you're French you'd be comfortable sending your kid to a French school or if you're British you'd want your kid to go to a British school. I moved alot, ex pat type of thing, so it feels comfortable to me.

that's good that they have a school bus

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Arriving a little late, but as a current parent of 2, with one alumna I can heartily recommend it. It is cheaper than other schools as it doesn't have to mantain swimming pools, buildings are shared with other organisations etc, but the children swim once a week and have games every day. I was shocked at the smallness of rooms on first visit until I realised that class sizes are tiny- often under 12, never more than 18, which makes an incredible difference. The international dimension smoothes out any social differences- all children expect other families to be different. The uniform is practical, contrary to appearances. Staff turnover might be high in paper- I haven't noticed it- but core teachers seem to stay for ever- off the top of my head I can think of several who have been there for 30+ years!! Unlike other primary schools kids have separate subject teachers. Pick up can be a pain if your children are in very different years, and there is no Friday afternoon school which could be tricky, although there are optional clubs. The clincher for us was that they do not select on entry, but have fantastic results on secondary transfer-Xenia's wrong there. I would definitely recommend the school.

Now run by the Colonels daugher (in law I think). Have heard good and bad first hand stories.